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CHASE A. STEVENS, OF NEW YORK, N Y.

-Leiters Patent No. 79,701, elated-July 7, 1 868- IMPROVEMENT In rnsarrnc ORES, METALS,- ANDMINBRALS,

TO ALL' WHOM I'l MAY'GONGERN:

Be it known that I, CHASE-A. STEVENS, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Treating Ores, Minerals, and Metals and I do hereby declare'the following to be dfull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same. The'bbjeet of this invention is to extract and separate the gold, silver, or other metals from the substances combined therewith; also, to treat, reduce, refine, and manufacture iron and its products in all the'forms ofiron known to metallurgical art. l

The auriferous and argentifcrous minerals and ores which I propose to treat, I classify in the following manner, each class requiring certain modification in the mode of treatment: A

I First, quartoze and schistose, being substances where the principal matrices, in which the metals are deposited, are quartz-or schists, or compounds of these.

Second, minerals and mess which are principally composed of the first part, but containing, in addition,

tellurium and bismuth, which we call telluric and bismuthical.

Third, minerals or ores similar to class one, but consisting chiefly of sulphides, which we call vpy ritical or sulphurous.

' Fourth,'minerals or ores similar to class one, but containingconsiderable portions of arsenic and antimony,

or compounds of these which we call arsenical.and-antimonical.

Fifth, argentiferous galena and copper, chloride of silver, and sulphurct of silver ores. Sixth, all iron and copper ores containing sulphur, silica, 860.

Seventh, all minerals, clays, or earths. It is well known to mctallurgists, that the presence of silica is a great obstacle in the way of successfully separatingmctals from their ores in a pure state, and that gold can form chemical combinatins' not only with oxygen, chlorine, iodine, bromine, slid-sulphur, but also with silicium, arsenic, bismuth, antimony, zinc, magnesium, and other elementary substances, as well as alloys with silver, platinum, iron, copper, ti'n, 8150.. These facts have heretofore caused a loss of from one-fourth to three-fourths of the precious metals which the ore was known to contain, being treated by the process in use.

I My invention consists in' treating auriferou's and ar containedtherein and other minerals and metals, by the application of tltc rcsiduum obtained or resulting from the manufacture of soda and other chemicals from'thc mineral cryolite.

My process of treating ores is by smelting ina crucible or furnace, with the application of said residuum as a; flux. Jlhe ores are first pulverized to a fine powder, and then thoroughly mixed with the said residuum, so that, as near as possible, every particle of orcs'nall come in Contact with the said residuum-5 then this mixture, being fed into the furnace slowly, the heat is applied gradually, until thewholc mass becomes perfectly liquid, The liquid mass is repeatedly stirred with an iron rake, or until the sulphur or other impure and base material hasbeen separated, expelled, or passed. oifin gascous form.- g- I-t is then allowed to remain quiet, until the metal precipitates to the'bbttom, when the slag is drawn oil', and the furnace is charged with. themixtnreas before, until the required quantity tr one or more tons. of ore has been thus treated, the metal being found at the bottom of the furnace. I

v 'I am aware thatfluxes have been used for fire assays and. of calcium has been used asaflux but, to the'best of my ture ot'flsoda, 850., from the mineral 'cryol ite, which is substantiall until I invcntedand discovered the use of it, as herein set forth.

I That persons skilled in the art's'may be enabled to usemy said according to the character of the ores to be treated, I use, nitrate 'oi' potassa car'bonate of soda,

y the fluoride of lime, has not been so used discovery or invention, I further state that, in connection with. the said residuum, common'salt, nitrate of soda, peroxide of' iron, lithargc, galena, lead ore, and other gentii'crous ores so as to separate andsave all the metal for smclting ores, I am also aware that fluoride lknowledge, the-residuum obtained in the .ma'nufacchemicals, for the purpose of assisting the oxidization; but these reagents are used in so small aproportion as not to materially add to the expense of said residuum or flui', which has heretofore been considered waste or useless, and which has been thrown away as an utterly useless substance. I

With the first. and second classes of ores above mentioned, I use about one ton of flux to three tons of ore; with the third and fourth classes, one ton of flux to. five and ten tonsof ore, and with, the fifth-class, one ton of flux to ten tons of ore, and with the sixth and seventh classes, about ten pounds of flux to one ton of ore.

The residuum which I use is produced in the following manuer, viz:

The mineral cryolite, which is composed principally of soda, alumina, and fiuoric acid, is pulverized and mixed in nearly equal parts with caustic lime, and this mixture is calcined, and the application of h'eat'causes the fluorine to leave the soda and alumina, and combine with the lime, for which it has a greater aifinity than it has for the soda, &c., leavingthe soda. and alumina, which are soluble, to be leached off with the water. The lime being insoluble, retains the fluorine constituting the said residuum, which I use as a flux for treating ores as above set forth. I i

When the residuum is mixed, in the manner above stated, with the pulverized ore, and subjected to the heat of the smelting-fumaccs, tlie fluorine becomes again active, and combines with and dissolves the silica, making the whole mass nearly as liquid as water, ajllowingthc sulphur, arsenic, and other refractory substances to pass oil by oxidation, thereby freeing the precious metals so that theyfornr into globules and precipitatezthrough the liquid mass to the bottom or pet of the furnace in a inctallic button orrcgulus nearly pure. If the metal should not prove perfectly pure, it is refined by cupellation.

In all iron, however pure it -may have been made by any process now in use, there still remairrvarious impurities, such as 'SlllGllllIl, phosphorus, sulphur, 8w. 'lo free the iron from these impurities by the use of the said residuum, the application is made at the time of smelting the iron.

When the iron is charged in the furnace, I cause a mixture of the said flux, with a small portion of common lime, moistened with water, to be-sprinkled overthe surface of the iron at the rate of about two to three pounds of flux to the ten of iron. During the process ofsmelting, the flux permeates the melting iron, dissolving the silicium, expelling the sulphur and phosphorus, and burning out the carbon, thereby making a finer crystallization and a more compact fibre tothe iron.

When not applied in the furnace, I sprinkle the flux into the ladle as it fills, and use about one pound to one and one-half pound to one ton of iron, producing nearly the same effect as before.

To produce a malleable surface upon cast iron, cause the casting to be brought to a red heat, and then co'vcr it with the flux, or cause the flux to be rubbed over 'in such proportion as the size of the casting may require.

In making steel from iron, I use in the'smelting-pot about one-half pound to the ton, nearlyin the manner above stated.

i To make a'steel coating upon bolts,lhinges, &c., Iheat the manufactured articles to a red heat, plunge it into a quantity of finely-pulverized flux, allow it to remain about ten minutes, repeat, and temper it.

To iveld steel or steel and iron-togctl ier', I use three parts of my flux, one part welding-sand, and one part borate of soda, and apply it the same as Borax is used in the'same' operation.

What -I claim as new, and desire to secure by Lettcrslatent', is

The within-described process of treating auriferous and argentiferous'and other 0res,.cl a,ys, earths, and metallic iron, by the application of the residuum obtained from cryolite, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth. I

CHASE A STEVENS.

Witnesses:

S. L. Fanucn, Tues. H. BACON. 

